My 9,000 gallon pond has two 4" drain lines which supply the pit (leaf
trap) which then provides the suction (along with the flow from a large
skimmer) to my two KJ6000LH Superfalls pumps. Normally, two grates
cover the bottom drains to prevent fish and large items from entering and
plugging up the lines. Recently I removed the grates to clean the sides
and bottom of my pond. With this design, all I have to do is sweep any
trash into the bottom drains and it is swept into the large mesh basket
for removal.

This normally works well without any problems, but I forgot and left
the grates off the drains. One day recently I noticed a reduced flow returning
to the pond. Upon investigation, I discovered that there was no flow from
the bottom drains, leaving only the flow from the skimmer for recirculation.
Also, there were six large koi in the almost empty basket (4 of which later
died due to injuries, stress, etc.).

My problem was how to unplug the 4" lines. This had happened once before
and it took a lot of work with the largest snake I could find before I
eventually succeeded in removing the plug . This time it turned out to
be a large peice of plastic lodged sideways in the pipe which then had
collected leaves and twigs. I didn't what to go through that again, so
I looked for a better way. It turned out that the solution was in my garage.

I use a Spa air blower to backwash my biological filters and
by simply jerry-rigging an adapter to my drain return in the pit, I was
able to blow a large volume of air backwards through the pipe which the
unplugged it in about 30 seconds. One of these spa blowers puts out an
amazing amout of air. It came to me that this would also work with a high
flow low pressure pump such as my KJ6000LH Superfalls also.
I want to stress that most pond plumbing is designed for low pressure,
so I would not use a standard irrigation or swimming pool pump or you might
compound your problems.

So now I have another use for my spa blower - backwash my drain pipes.
I also replaced my grates with the KJDC-24 drain covers.These are
large (24") expanded metal screens with a steel rod which hangs down from
the center into the drain pipe. With this arrangement, the fish cant remove
it, and yet it is easy for me to remove if necessary for maintenace.

Annonymous

KITCHEN
TIMERS:

Don't laugh but I now carry a kitchen timer around whenever I go into
my backyard! It all started one day when I was cleaning my filters and
decided to open the drain on my filters. This flushes out the under-gravel
portion of my filters and I usually flush this area out on a weekly basis
for about 5 minutes or less.

The telephone rang and I rushed into the house to answer it.

I was working graveyard that night and about 02:30 AM I jumped
out of my chair! The filter bottom drains! I couldn't remember closing
them. A call to my brother Bob at this time of the morning wasn't appreciated,
but a half hour later he confirmed my fears. My pond had only 8 inches
of water left in the deep end and my koi were very upset.

As I said, I now carry a kitchen timer around with me and any time I
have done anything with the potential to drain the pond, I set it to go
off every 5 minutes or so. Annonymous

LOW
LEVEL CUTOFF SWITCHES:

I remember another time that I mistakenly drained down my pond. Unfortunately,
I was in the grocery store when my wife saw me running out the door to
my car.

I was backwashing my filters and went into the house to answer the phone.
My wife asked if I needed anything from the store. Why yes, I had to have
that new gadget that I had heard about.

These low level cut-offs sure do work well. They shut off your pump
whenever the level gets too low to prevent itiots like me from killing
my fish (who by the way must hate me). Same annonymous

If you use a pond heater, do NOT turn it off. WE had a period of 40
degree weather last week. ( Unusual in December ) I turned off the heater
and proptly forgot it for 48 hours. When I checked the pond there was an
inch of ice on it and my three largest Koi were belly up just under the
ice. I would not have thought that would happen so quickly. I was so sick
about it, I didn't even sign on to this newsgroup for two days. Any ideas
as to what happened?

I would guess they simply died from a lack of oxygen. When the ice came.
the door shut to atmospheric transfer of oxygen. If the pond is fairly
deep you could kept it open with air . Sorry it always hurts whenyou lose
a friend. Paul

Welcome to the stupitity club! My initiation came last summer when I
terminated one of the largest denitizens of my pond by the unusual means
of running over it with a tractor. It seems I was pumping water from the
well and it had filled and water had begun to run over the spillway. One
of my best 10 inch fish apparently was in the shallow water near the spillway
when I stormed across on the tractor. I found the squashed victim on my
return trip. It does leave one with a sick, hopeless feeling. I can only
speculate on what happened in your case. I thought koi were safe in quite
cold water. If it was a small pond could the ice have cut off oxygen? Here
in South-Central Texas I doubt I'll ever have an ice problem. We had our
100 year record snow storm in 1985 with a 36 hour 15 inch mini-blizard.
My large 3/4 acre pond didn't come close to freezing over, only about the
edges. The temperature was generally in the mid to high 20's during the
period. I suspect my 6,000 gal water garden pond which did not exist then
would have come closer to freezing. But I have never seen ice on it in
the five years since it was built. Harold

Help!! I am an experienced Pond keeper but this year replaced my old
700 gallon pond with a 5000 gallon concrete pond with a liner underneath
it...I live in Colorado and the last two months I have noticed a steady
decline in the health of my Koi...the pH was high for a while....up to
8.6 but has been 7.4 for the last two weeks as I finally gave up and added
Muriatic acid to lower it...in small doses...I started the winter with
12 koi .....from 3 inches to 20 inches in size... but have been reduced
to one large one and one 6 incher left... the filter is running with water
being drawn from the top pool skimmer and returned at the top also..so
it has never frozen completely tho most of the pond is covered with about
4 inches of ice...the dead fish first seem to be "disoriented"...they swim....lethargically
at the top under the ice....then get caught in the skimmer after a couple
days...I have put a screen to keep them from getting all the way in ...then
they start to swim upside down..if they swim much at all...then its over
in a day or two after that.....I suppose it could be the "new Pond Syndrome"
and the stress of the first winter in there for them..... I want to ask
if any have any similar experiences?...the fish look free of diseases when
I examine the dead ones...gills and all are ok...no sores visible....just
dead...any suggetstions?? the water temp is 37 at the bottom...the pond
is 5 feet deep and 24 by 18 feet ....any help would be much appreciated...
I hadnt lost any fish in 6 years before this and many were from my first
pond...thanx

Date: Sun, 31 Dec 95 08:57:56 PDT

From: sperling@nps.is.net

Subject: Re: New Pond Killing My Koi friends?......sniff

rswinkler@aol.com> writes:

Help!! I am an experienced Pond keeper but this year replaced my old
700 gallon pond with a 5000 gallon concrete pond with a liner underneath
it...I live in Colorado and the last two months I have noticed a steady
decline in the health of my Koi...the pH was high for a while....up to
8.6 but has been 7.4 for the last two weeks as I finally gave up and added
Muriatic acid to lower it...in small doses...I started the winter with
12 koi .....from 3 inches to 20 inches in size... but have been reduced
to one lage one and one 6 incher left... the filter is running with water
being drawn from the top pool skimmer and returned at the top also..so
it has never frozen completely tho most of the pond is covered with about
4 inches of ice...the dead fish first seem to be "disoriented"...they swim....lethargically
at the top under the ice....then get caught in the skimmer after a couple
days...I have put a screen to keep them from getting all the way in ...then
they start to swim upside down..if they swim much at all...then its over
in a day or two after that.....I suppose it could be the "new Pond Syndrome"
and the stress of the first winter in there for them..... I want to ask
if any have any similar experiences?...the fish look free of diseases when
I examine the dead ones...gills and all are ok...no sores visible....just
dead...any suggestions?? the water temp is 37 at the bottom...the pond
is 5 feet deep and 24 by 18 feet ....any help would be much appreciated...
I hadnt lost any fish in 6 years before this and many were from my first
pond... thanx

While other problems may be operating, this spring coat the concrete
with CIM liquid liner.

Subject: New Pond's Water is Pea Soupy Green color with String Algae
- What can I do? Darryl

There are many types and several colors of algae. Some are more of a
problem than others. First of all, most algae doesn't hurt the pond or
the fish. They are however a headache for those who want to see and enjoy
their fish.

To discuss your options about the algae, we have to firs divide the
algae into types according to where and how it grows.

String Algae

In the case of all algae, you should look at your feeding habit, cleaning
methods, etc. Remove all uneaten organic material, food, rotting leaves,
dead plants, etc. These materials help to feed the algae and removal will
ease your algae problem. Quite often, people are simply over feeding their
fish and what goes in, ultimately winds up in the pond either eaten or
uneaten. Many people think that as long as the fish eat, you should feed
them and they will grow very large. A healthy fish does not have to be
fat.

String algae is normally the most difficult to get rid of. This is because
it is the hardiest and most difficult to kill, and it attaches itself to
everything in the pond which means it cant be pumped through a UV Sterilizer.
You can attempt to reduce it by several methods.

1. Physical Removal: Scrub with brushes, at the point of attachment
and remove the strings with rakes. If you have a concrete pond, use brushes
with metal bristles or if rubber liner, use a brush with softer plastic
bristles.

2. If you do not have plants in your pond, use algaecides such as algae-away
to kill the algae. Remove plants for 2-3 days and sprinkle the algaecide
evenly around the pond. Remove any algae from the plants prior to returning
them to the pond. Keep the plants wet while out of the pond.

3. If you don't have plants in the pond, you can try the use of salt
in your pond. Usually, 1 1/2 lbs of salt for each 100 gallons of water
will retard algae growth, help heal injuries or sores and protect them
against parasites.

4. Tint your ponds water slightly to reduce the amount of sun light
which is causing the algae to grow. Use Tint-it-Blue or similar product.
A little goes a long way and you don't want it so dark that you cant see
your fish.

5. Add concentrated bacteria to the pond to improve performance of your
bio-filter and to decrease the amount of nutrients in the pond which are
feeding the algae. Shut off your UV Sterilizer for a couple of days after
adding the bacteria to the pond or it will kill the bacteria before it
has a chance to take hold in the filter.

Suspended Algae and Settled Algae

1. Settled algae is best removed by vacuuming it up with a pump or vacuum,
or sweeping it into a drain where it can be removed by pump or drainage..

2. Suspended algae can be effectively killed with UV Sterilizers and
then removed by your bio-filter. UV Sterilizers are the most certain
method of removing suspended or pea-soupy green algae. They can kill
anything that can be pumped through them, even parasites if the flow rate
is reduced to the right gpm rate. Consult your manual.

3. If you do not have plants in your pond, use algaecides such as algae-away
to kill the algae. Remove plants for 2-3 days and sprinkle the algaecide
evenly around the pond. Remove any algae from the plants prior to returning
them to the pond. Keep the plants wet while out of the pond.

4. If you don't have plants in the pond, you can try the use of salt
in your pond. Usually, 1 1/2 lbs of salt for each 100 gallons of water
will retard algae growth, help heal injuries or sores and protect them
against parasites.

5. Tint your ponds water slightly to reduce the amount of sun light
which is causing the algae to grow. Use Tint-it-Blue or similar product.
A little goes a long way and you don't want it so dark that you cant see
your fish.

6. Add concentrated bacteria to the pond to improve performance of your
bio-filter and to decrease the amount of nutrients in the pond which are
feeding the algae. Shut off your UV Sterilizer for a couple of days after
adding the bacteria to the pond or it will kill the bacteria before it
has a chance to take hold in the filter.

NOTE: Please send the POND SHOP your favorite (or least favorite) horror
stories. We do not print readers names unless specifically requested to.
This is because some people have need of privacy as it relates to protection
of their valued fish. (We have seen a new predator lately that arrives
on two legs and can completely empty a pond in less than 1/2 hour).
This might be a good horror story which we will tell soon. Suffice
it to say- Don't advertise the value and quality of your Koi! PONDSHOP

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